IA located and spoke with witnesses to this confrontation, which allegedly went more like this ...

Monday afternoon, 3.05 pm, the sleepy town of Graman, about 40k northwest of Inverell. Two blokes walk into Graman’s only pub, called, unsurprisingly, the Graman Hotel. Inside the bar, big enough only to hold a dozen or so dedicated drinkers, Barnaby Joyce is having a beer with a few of them. His minder is with him. The two blokes get a beer each and take a seat.

Unbeknownst to Barnaby, one of these blokes is a dedicated, professional environmentalist, the other an accomplished martial arts exponent.

Because Barnaby’s staff will not reveal his itinerary, the two blokes had to put in a bit of sleuthing to discover BJ was going to be at the Graman that afternoon.

As constituents, they felt they had a few valid questions to put to him.

They were soon drawn into Barnaby’s group and, after the usual pleasantries of names and handshakes, the environmentalist asked Barnaby a few questions. Barnaby responded by deriding him as a "Green".

Then, when the man said he had nothing to do with the Greens, Barnaby allegedly said:

"Well, you look like a fuckwit."

The other bloke – the martial arts guy who also dabbles in thinking about politics, especially New England politics – then intervened, asking Barnaby about the salary he took while he was ineligible to sit.

It seems that, apart from one small tense time when Barnaby’s drinking buddies threatened to throw the pair down the stairs – which would have been a bad move given the drinking buddies’ age and physical condition, coupled with their likely opponent – things remained calm.

For Barnaby, though, his congenial drinks session had been disrupted and he was over it. He stood up and announced he was adjourning to the Tamworth Leagues Club.

In the spirit of campaigning, Barnaby shook hands with everybody, including the two blokes.

Police have been called after a bullet accompanied by a threatening note from an Adani protester was sent to Barnaby Joyce’s former electorate office in Tamworth.

The bullet arrived earlier this week with a note about the $1 billion loan the federal government wants to grant to Adani. It also mentioned other environmental issues, including mining on the Liverpool Plains.

“People always think these wonderful green lobbyists, they’re all so peaceful,’’ Mr Joyce said yesterday. “Well, no. They’ve sent a bullet to my office, which apparently was supposed to go through my head and this is the sort of garbage we have to put up with.

“These people are not pacifists. They’re militant, they’re violent, they want to destroy our economy and they’re happy to threaten you, they want to kill you.’’

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner for regional field operations, Gary Worboys, was in Tamworth on Thursday and said he was made aware of the situation that morning.

“I’m told that there is some forensic analysis going forward,” he said.

“Investigations are continuing and of course we will make every effort to finalise that investigation as quickly as we can.”

By the sounds of it, police have so far failed to set up the dedicated task force necessary to ensure the rapid CSI-style result required before Barnaby is gunned down in Peel Street by an assassin dressed as a tree.

Allegations of stalking are patent rubbish, of course. The environmentalist in the pub had spoken with Barnaby only once before — some weeks prior to the Graman contretemps. That is hardly stalking. The environmentalist is a constituent, the Graman Hotel is a public house and Barnaby is a public figure. No one followed Barnaby around, no one peered in his windows, no one chased him into the bathroom. In short, it is vastly different to the behaviour that could constitute the offence of stalking under section 13 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

Flicking someone's hat off, however, could constitute assault in NSW if there was a legitimate fear of violence. And given Barnaby had, according to one witness, "gone through every shade from red to purple to beetroot" just prior to the incident, this is surely arguable.

My take from this event is that Barnaby is a man with a violent temper and tissue skin who was very lucky the martial arts guy was around to diffuse the situation before Barnaby did something really stupid — like hit someone.

This is not the first time Barnaby had gotten aggro with constituents who disagreed with him.

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Independent Australia is a progressive journal focusing on politics, democracy, the environment, Australian history and Australian identity. It contains news and opinion from Australia and around the world. [ read more ]